They brought home the wild bush they love – introducing wax eye, fantails and moreporks.

Arrive at wooden gate of this delightful garden and one wants to tip toe so as not to disturb the birds, darting behind tall flowers and trailing ivy, escaping the heat and inquisitive humans.

A hush comes over you as you move deeper into the hidden world of this wild garden.

Katherine and Peter love walking trails in the back country and have made their urban garden a reflection of this, whether they intended this or not. They have created a space filled with such texture and colour, it takes your breath away at the variety they have been able to introduce or have self-seeded.

In early autumn, the leaves change colour, and the sun reflects off the orange and red, lighting up the garden with warmth and glowing shadows. In summer it is a cool dappled light beneath the bending branches.

They have thoughtfully recreated the swimming pool into a pond and set structures within it to utilise plantings and water lilies. Goldfish idle beneath the surface in water that is clear and healthy. Around the edges candelabra primulas stand tall. Japanese maples, irises and kangaroo paw, next to taro of various strains, move in the breeze, all clinging to the pond edges where water and sunlight gives them energy and generous growth.

Wax eyes, fantails, kingfishers, blackbirds, and thrushes all call this garden home. Katherine and Peter love to stroll around the garden at different times of the day, and in Katherine’s words they marvel at such an amazing Creator.

Pumpkins in the veggie patch are caught in string bags and hang like boxing bags around a tall frame, a clever and delightful way of keeping them off the damp ground. Parsley, tomatoes, onions, lettuce all provide year-round food, and the resident birds are fat and chirpy, their stomachs constantly filled.

Relax on the back veranda and gaze over the pond where dragon flies dance in the sunlight and wax eye pulls at the nectar of the kangaroo paw and grevillea.

Admire the multi branch growth of the Magnolia and wonder how many years this tree has watched over the garden, raising its branches to the sunlight. Starling boxes high on a pole on the boundary, provide year-round safe sanctuary for mothering birds.

Katherine and Peter love the way the garden surrounds their home, a peaceful sanctuary in the middle of town. A little part of the back country just outside their windows.

Come and enjoy this enticing garden and see how many breeds of birds you can spot in the trees.

By Bronwen Byers